Chapter 5: Mentoring Students in CPED-Influenced Doctoral Programs

Choosing to obtain a doctorate is one of the most important decisions an educational practitioner can make. Based on my experience as an EdD program mentor, I discuss in this chapter how faculty members can best mentor from the beginning potential students (those who are considering pursuing a CPED-influenced education doctorate) through to the end and completion of the program. Mentoring assists students, who are typically full-time professionals, in successfully completing the rigorous and often compact timeline of an EdD program. Faculty, however, who enter the academy are rarely trained to mentor students (Nettles & Millet, 2006) and often may mentor students in the manner that they experienced, emulating practices that are more appropriate for a full-time tenure-track position (Blackburn, Chapman, & Cameron, 1981). In contrast with the PhD, where the emphasis is training students to become educational researchers who typically work in a university setting, the aims and scope of the CPED-influenced EdD intends to develop practitioners who not only generate new knowledge, but also integrate theory and research to address complex problems of practice. Therefore, mentoring practices for EdD students should be congruent with the aims and scope of the CPED-influenced EdD program.